collision → atla, reader insert

chapter twenty-one

        TWO FIGURES WATCHED HER with a lack of eyes and blank expressions. Silhouettes—both difficult to make out—circled her like a hawk. Hands became clammy as she tried to ground herself in this odd land. A vision hadn't come to her weeks—not since she'd joined Aang. 

        One figure stopped in front of her. If it had eyes, she swore it'd be staring daggers through her. Though the moment lasted for a fraction of a second when the left foot began to move. However, a step was never taken for a cylindrical rock with the force of a cannon knocking off two feet and into the abyss of the space leaving [Y/N] and the other faceless figure. 

        When she turned, that figure had already been idle. She hadn't realized she'd been holding her breath until a force pierced through its chest and straight through hers. There was no pain, only pressure. Yet, the figure had disappeared and her heart had dropped to her feet, leaving her alone in the abyss.

        There was no pain, but she was breathless. In her hands sat the dagger she'd woken up with—one of the few possessions she'd managed to keep on her since then. It felt so long ago that she'd awoken on that small island and that cutlass was the only object she'd yet to put to use or purpose.

        But a red substance dripped from the end, though her "wound" was clean and the pressure from the piercing grew until her head was above the clouds. Her eyelids naturally closed and reopened to the sound of voices muffled only through a thin door. Hints of daylight peaking through the still draw blinds and lights bleeding through the cracks of the lattice. 

        Still rubbing the tiredness out of her eyes, she emerged from her chamber into the main room where the group splayed out over the common area already discussing their plan for the day. [Y/N] was greeted by Toph and Katara with a lame joke from Sokka that she'd look like she was fighting demons in her sleep which only he laughed at. She muttered a response with her dry mouth while she occupied herself with attaining a glass of water. 

        Joining them, Katara spoke animatedly while holding a newspaper and soon they were swung into an elaborate scheme to get into the castle of the Earth King with Toph and Katara disguising themselves as guests to find a way to sneak the others in. 

        As the time grew closer, [Y/N] found herself absentmindedly flipping through the newspaper while Aang and Sokka occupied themselves with some board game that came with the home. In between turns, Sokka made a few quips that she only responded to every once and a while and denied every inclusion in the game. 

        She'd been scanning the newspaper for any mention of her sister's name, not really knowing how to start about finding her. Ba Sing Se was huge and she could be searching for months—years even. The last thing she needed was to incidentally be found out before making any real progress, hence why she refused to dress up alongside the others despite Toph insisting she'd pull it off because "[Y/N] has the right amount of manners and a stick far enough her butt to blend in with those toffs" which she just rolled her eyes at. 

        The moon began to rise higher in the sky and none of them had gotten closer to the king. With no idea where Katara and Toph had gone off to, Sokka and Aang took it upon themselves to dress up as busboys to get into the party. [Y/N], definitely not willing to pretend to serve rich people all night, cosplayed bringing in supplies to attempt to seem like someone who'd lost their way so she could find Toph and Katara while Sokka and Aang kept an eye out for the king. 

        She ignored the looks and whispers of guests as she walked through the wide corridors with a platter in her hand of hors d'oeuvres she'd taken from the guys, absentmindedly serving them as she scanned the crowds. Sticking to walls and corners wasn't too successful as she accidentally made eye contact with one of the guards and rerouted her plan.